Title: Cat in Hells Chance
Author: Helen
Posted: 08-16-2003
Email: helen_taft@msn.com
Rating: NC-17
Category:
Content: C/A
Summary: This is a sequel to Lost & Found and is set Post S5 (AU) L & F summary for those that haven’t read it: Cordy wakes up and runs off, returns and then the serial deals with the obstacles W&H throw at C & A before they work it out and get together as a couple. Angel’s still boss of W & H LA and Cordy runs her own agency.
Spoilers:
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution:
Notes: This is an action piece mainly – Wesley stumbles across something nasty and Angel gets drawn into it. Meanwhile Cordy is frantic to find them both and gets a little help from and old friend from SD (Giles) and Lorne (eventually) & a surprise guest!
Feedback: Yeah feed me!
Thanks/Dedication: Big Thanks to Califi my beta (hugsXXXX)Part 1
THE HYPERION HOTEL (1 am)
The lobby was dark and deserted and his footsteps rang on the cold tiles as he crossed it, heading for the stairs to the upper level, a large callused hand trailing on the rail. Moonlight lit what it could through windows and glass doors but left most in shadow and his was the biggest shadow moving silently and fluidly despite his size and the big black leather coat that reached almost to his knees.
He stopped outside a room and laid a hand on the wooden panel as if trying to sense if she was inside even as his other hand turned the handle and opened it. She lay partially on her side on the bed with the sheet pushed down around her naked hips; a hand lay palm up on the pillow next to her beautiful face and one knee was raised, giving him tantalising glimpses of the shadowed secrets of her body, secrets only a lover can know. He stood next to the bed for a few moments to drink in the view, able to see perfectly in the darkness.
Finally he shrugged out of his heavy coat and placed it quietly on a chair by the bed, nimble fingers pulled at his clothes, undoing zippers and buttons, slipping cloth over his dark head as he headed for the shower. He was back within 10 minutes, naked shoulders gleaming as he passed through patches of light crossing to the bed to slip under the covers with her, his body warmed from the heat of the water and then carefully rubbed dry to try and retain some of that heat until he could absorb hers.
He spooned his big body around her and leaned on an elbow to trail a loving finger down one soft cheek and neck, mesmerised all over again by the satiny texture of her skin and the sweet heat that came off her sleeping body in warm living waves. She stirred slightly and tucked herself closer to him, murmuring his name but remaining asleep even as her full lips curved in pleasure.
He nuzzled into the crook of her neck, enjoying the buzz the smell of her brought to his body; even the blood hunger was erotic and he got hard just being close to her. It was a reaction he was getting familiar with and so he tamped down the urge to roll her over, she was so peaceful and relaxed he didn’t want to disturb her.
He settled down to just look, giving her whisper soft caresses that soothed rather than aroused, his full lips curved in crooked smile at his own response. Happy to wait until morning when she would wake and start an exploration of her own, she knew he would be disappointed if she didn’t.
WESLEY INVESTIGATING
Wesley sat with his legs apart and a large heavy book resting on his lap; his brows were drawn together in a frown over sharp blue eyes. As an ex-watcher he was accustomed to a great deal of reading and digesting of information in order to reach a conclusion based on logic and knowledge.
But logic was defying him, or at least it wasn’t making any sense, a no-no for seekers of logic. Irritated he put the book carefully aside and stretched trying to work the kinks out of his tired body. A quick check of his watch had him rubbing suddenly gritty eyes and wishing he were in bed where he should be at this hour.
“This makes no sense; why now and by whom”? Good questions and he was no nearer to finding the answers than he’d been hours ago. “At least I have a good idea of where”.
He dropped his hands and contemplated the palms, deep in thought and trying to reach a decision. Should he wait to speak to Angel tomorrow afternoon or try and check it out now?
The report on his desk had made it clear that the numbers were on the increase and it smote at his conscience for even thinking about waiting. But he didn’t really have enough to go on that would justify disturbing the others. A few seconds later he rose and headed for the chair where he’d tossed his jacket. He’d made a decision; he would do a quick recon and then report back.
A little later he surveyed the low level building with its corrugated sides and big-padlocked bay doors. This was the last building in the suspect area that could feasibly be the centre of the problem; he checked around looking for anything obvious but saw nothing out of the ordinary even with the concealing darkness.
Then he heard the sounds of an approaching vehicle, the headlights heading directly for here. He quickly moved around the other side of the building and settled down to watch. He didn’t have long to wait, a dark coloured van pulled up outside the garage bay doors and a large male figure got out.
The man unlocked the doors and pulled them back so that the van could drive inside and all of a sudden it was decision time for Wesley again. Should he try and sneak inside or stay outside and see what he could hear from here? He darted inside before the doors were pulled closed again and while the man had his back turned and attention elsewhere.
Then he hit a snag, the building was literally empty and there was nowhere to hide except under the now parked van before he was spotted by either the driver or the other behind him, quickly Wesley slid underneath it, glad the lights inside the building hadn’t been switched on yet and trying not to notice the dirt and grit on the floor under his hands and face.
“Strange for a motor repair facility to have no cars, tools or lifting equipment; just an empty building”, thought Wesley, keeping as still as possible; and wishing he’d been able to find somewhere with better viewing opportunities. He watched as two black boots walked back towards the van and pulled the sliding doors aside.
He heard mumbled voices but could only make out a few of the words, there were bumping noises over his head and then a thump and a groan. A face appeared to look under the van and Wes nearly jumped out of his skin at the fierce ugliness of the demon before he realised it was unconscious and couldn’t see him, then the face got dragged away and another took it’s place as the van got unloaded.
Wesley counted at least a half dozen demons and four humans, “pay dirt”, this was the location and these the people responsible for the demon and human abductions over the last few weeks; he just wished he wasn’t alone and could do something about it.
“Dammit I’ve done it again: jumped into a situation alone without consulting anyone! Angels going to have my head over this when he finds out”, thought Wesley castigating himself and knowing he was in for more if he got out of here in one piece.
“There are only two of them, big - yes but I’ve dealt with bigger”, he couldn’t just leave the humans to be taken, he was here and he had to do something! He waited a few seconds to figure out the locations of the two abductors and then slid out from under the van. They didn’t spot him right away and he took advantage of that fact.
He assessed them as he approached, his boots silent on the cement floor and wishing there were some shadows to blend in with but grateful for the lack of light and his own dark clothing. They were both busy with their unconscious cargo, lining them up on the floor in such a way as to convince Wesley this was not the final destination but just a stopping point. He got close enough for them to sense and then whirl to face him.
For a moment, fear chased across their human faces until they realised he was human too, then they snarled and rushed him. Wesley stood firm and let them close the last few feet, watching their body movement to guess where and how they would attack. One came in low on his right, the other took the opposite tack, as a strategy it wasn’t bad and he had to twist to the side when punching at one to avoid a similar fate from the other.
The man on his right was laid out for the moment caught full in the face by his short and hard punch, groaning and holding his nose. Wesley turned his full attention on the other who now stood to one side head cocked as if checking him out properly, now that he’d managed to hurt one of them. Wesley didn’t like that as it hinted at an intelligence that could make this tricky.
Neither spoke but charged at the same time, Wesley felt his waist get grabbed in a crushing grip and then he was lifted in the air, hard arms squeezed, crushing the air from his lungs. Wesley snapped down with an elbow right onto the fellow’s ear, the grip loosened at the pain inflicted and he followed through with an identical blow to the same place. He found himself back on his feet but only for a moment before he saw a bunched fist flying towards his face, he ducked and it whizzed past his head.
He stiffened his fingers and stabbed them into his opponent’s throat and then stood back to watch as the man fell to his knees gagging and wheezing, trying to get air into his lungs past his injured throat. The other was just getting to his feet and so with a half turn Wesley lashed out with a sharp kick; the force of it snapping the head back and laying him out again.
Without hesitating he walked over to the humans lying on the dirty floor, he crouched down and checked their pulse and then eyes, drugged he sighed and sat back on his heels, he looked back towards the van and quickly walked over to it; as he was checking for the keys in the ignition he felt something come up behind him and his head whipped around, too late, blue eyes widened just as something heavy and blunt smashed into his skull and blackness fell like a curtain.
HYPERION HOTEL (3 am)
Angel woke abruptly and only just managed not to jostle Cordy and wake her too; he lifted his head and listened intently with all of his supernatural ability, something had woken him, a noise or movement out of place. He heard nothing more but there was a tingling sensation at the back of his neck, and that was an instinct he never failed to heed.
He looked down at the sleeping beauty next to him and then eased away out of the bed and bent down to pick up his pants, he didn’t bother with anything else just slipped out of the room to investigate. His head swivelled a little as he checked the rooms in passing, listening for movement or unusual smells, each room only taking a second to check before he moved on satisfied there was no danger lurking inside.
His feet were as silent as ever but quickened in pace when he approached the landing overlooking the lobby and heard the faintest of scratching sounds. He considered just jumping over the rail but decided it was just as quick to simply bound down the stairs, which he did; still silent as he approached the office and it’s closed door.
He opened it and looked inside the lamp lit room dark eyes narrowing at the sight of a hunched figure riffling through a drawer from the wrong side; awkwardly bent over the expanse of the desk and obviously searching for something. The intruder cursed under his breath, it was a male voice; having no idea he’d been discovered.
At least until his searching hand was caught in a vice like grip at the wrist, lifted high above his head and twisted so that he had no choice but to turn, eyes wide with fright clashed with menacing dark brown. He recognised the vampire and nearly fainted with fear. The man was only small and he flinched when the grip got tighter and his feet left the floor as he was raised up even further until his face was only inches away from his captor.
The intruder gulped and his arm trembled with the strain, he shut his eyes thinking that not being able to see that terrifyingly recognisable face would lessen the fear, it didn’t so he opened them again. He’d heard the vampire had killed at least three humans in the last year, but that was before the woman had come back and he could only pray that what they said was true about him being less bloodthirsty now she was back.
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I swear”, he said to Angel in a high-pitched voice. Angel said nothing for a moment but continued to look at him, his grip not slipping even a little and also not caring that it was obviously painful for the little man.
“You come in here, in the dead of night where a woman lives alone; sneak around in her office and then tell me your not doing anything wrong?”, his voice was low pitched and growling.
The man definitely felt faint then I’m so dead, he thinks I’m here to hurt his girlfriend , he nearly sobbed and wished he was stronger and braver instead of the wimp everyone called him, Talk you stupid idiot, or you will be dead.
“Honestly; I just wanted to leave a note, that’s it I swear. I didn’t realise you’d be here”. He hadn’t meant to say the last as it gave him away and he groaned and hung his head; the pain in his impossibly stretched arm giving way to numbness, and he looked at his dangling feet in despair.
Angel’s eyes narrowed further as his brows lowered even more forbiddingly, but he dropped the man back on his feet and released his wrist. Angel didn’t even have to try and tower over the man, he was so little anyway, for gods sake, Cordy was taller than this guy! “Leave a note about what”? He snapped.
“A note for you” was the quivering reply, “about Wesley Wyndham Pryce” he rubbed his sore wrist, trying to get feeling back into the limb.
“You were leaving a note for me here, but you didn’t think I’d be here”? Replied Angel angry and confused “Who the hell are you anyway”?
“Evans, Neil Evans, I’m from the Transport Division, maintenance and facilities that sort of stuff”, a hopeful note had started to creep in.
“You work for me”? Asked Angel, eyebrows raised and yet still managing to glare down at his erstwhile employee. Angel looked him over again and sighed, feeling like a bully. This guy was just a normal average human, emphasis on the average; brown hair medium length, clean shaven with big nose small mouth and watery blue eyes.
“Yeah” the little man nodded enthusiastically, looking up into Angel’s face and watching his reaction hopefully.
Angel stepped back a little and put his hands on his hips looking down with suspicion but less hostility on his face. “That still doesn’t explain why you came here at all”.
Gulp time again, thought Neil, come clean or try and get away with a convincing lie, not much choice really when one of those options could get him killed since he was crap at lying. “I didn’t want this traced back to me”, he admitted.
“Get what traced”? Asked Angel, frustrated and wanting to get to the point of this charade like now!
“Your friend’s just walked into a whole world of trouble” he said it hesitatingly, knowing it wouldn’t be a welcome announcement.
“Wesley’s in trouble”? Interrupted Angel; still confused and even more frustrated. Plus the pure fear coming off this guy was incredibly distracting, not to mention making him feel damned hungry, not a good thing in the circumstances.
“Yeah, I was hoping to have at least until tomorrow before he did anything but…”, his voice trailed off when Angel took a threatening step closer; crowding him back against the desk, out of patience entirely.
“Wolfram & Hart have been running a delivery operation of abducted demons and humans to a secret location for months and the Watcher stumbled onto it”, the words literally streamed out of his mouth as he babbled uncontrollably, trying to placate the angry vampire.
Every muscle in Angel body tensed with rage at hearing that the company he supposedly ‘ran’ was still up to its evil tricks behind his back and now Wes was in the middle of it; how?
“How” Angel snarled, still crowding. This guy was going nowhere until he got the answers he needed.
“How what”? The idiot even blinked owlishly at him. Angel strove for patience,
“How is the operation being run, and how did Wesley find out about it? I want details – all of it”.
Neil sighed and his narrow shoulders slumped, “I don’t really know much more, just that it happens and it’s carried out only by two of the drivers, twice a week, same van and it always comes back cleaned”.
Angel moved back a little giving him some space but also to get away from the cloying smell of fear, “Why did you come here to tell … or OK leave a note about this if you’re so scared”, it could be a trap but all of his instincts were telling him this guy was on the level, even so?
“I like Mr Wyndham Pryce, he gets around and he doesn’t ignore the little guy”, there was a slightly accusing look in the ‘little guys’ face as he said it; which given the circumstances Angel ignored.
“OK fine, so where is Wes now, and what kind of trouble do you mean”? Angel walked around the desk and sat down picking up a pen and paper.
“Oh he’s in big trouble Mr Angel – the worst kind from the whispers I’ve heard but if you want to know more, you’ll need to speak to the two drivers, Danny Lindsey and Peter McCloud”.
“Write down their addresses and likely hangouts and add yours too. If you’re telling me the truth, you get a promotion -if not you get dead”. Neil had no reason not to believe him and started to scribble furiously.
WESLEY
Wesley woke up with a head that hurt like the blasted devil; he opened his eyes and tried not to move any part of his aching body whilst keeping the contents of his stomach where they were. For a few moments all he could see was stars as he struggled to focus, but then he made out the grimy bare walls and dirt packed floor that surrounded him.
Best guess; I’m in a cell of some kind - that’s just great, Wes!. His blue eyes travelled further and lit on another huddled figure in the dark gloom. It was too dark to make out any details but whoever it was they looked to be fairly sizeable.
“Where are we”? Wes managed to croak out, licking his lips to try and moisten them.
“Sshhhh” came back in a terrified reply. Hmm not exactly informative thought Wesley, trying to get his bearings and gearing himself up for the pain of sitting up.
“Where are we” He repeated, hoping persistence would get him somewhere.
“No talking” the whisper was almost too low to be heard and then “Were in hell”, dry sobbing followed before silence reigned again.
“Really” said Wesley a little dryly “which one might that be then”?
His cell-mate was saved from having to answer by the clang of bolts being drawn back, which gave Wes the impetus to finish sitting up so he could move until his back was to the grimy wall nearest to him, he looked towards the door.
Wesley had to blink from the flickering torchlight as it came into the room, unable to adjust instantly to the change, he raised a hand to help shield himself and looked towards his cell-mate; whom he could now see was a demon. Not a breed he recognised but he catalogued the details anyway, a green spiked crest on top of the head and around the ears, facial skin a paler green with large eyes that looked to be topaz in colour. He was big and he was scared - not a good sign, thought Wesley, when something that scary looking was itself shaking with terror.
He looked back to the door and found more demons being brought in, two of them both of whom were unconscious. The guard was clothed in a studded leather vest and leg coverings wrapped around thick bulging limbs like tree trunks. The bald head and face was covered in a mask up to entirely black eyes but from the shape of the mask, humanoid looking was at least a possibility.
Wesley stumbled to his feet and swayed a moment before forcing his knees to lock. While the new demons were being dumped and dragged into the cell, he moved closer to the door, debating the wisdom of a dash for freedom; he had no idea what lay beyond that door but experience had proven it was better to be free than caged.
He never made it that far. The guard, despite it’s size was fast, and before he could evade it Wesley was struck by a high kick that caught his shoulder and sent him crashing into the wall beside the door, his head hit it with an audible crack and he slid down to the floor, dazed and now with blood dripping into his eyes from a cut on his forehead.
A meaty hand fisted in his jacket and shirt, picking him up effortlessly and flung him back towards the other side of the cell and away from the door, he came to rest beside one of his newest fellow prisoners; still reeling from the latest blow to his head.
He saw the leather wrapped legs stop next to him and waited for another blow but none came, he looked up then but couldn’t see any expression, just the blank mask with the dead black eyes.
“Why am I here”? He dared to ask beyond caring about safety, he was all but dead anyway by the looks of it. The demon didn’t answer him, perhaps couldn’t with that mask; just walked away, and the next thing Wesley heard was the bolts crash into place and the cell was once again pitch black.
Part 2
ANGEL (3.50 am)
He only had an hour and half maximum of real night-time left and he had to make it count, his worry over Wesley was increasing with every minute; he needed to find were Wesley had gone and his best bet for getting that information was snoring behind the door in front of him.
The other address had been a dead-end; this one wouldn’t be allowed to be. He knocked loudly on the door and moved to the side and out of sight, just in case the guy should recognise him like Evans had. He heard the dragging, heavy footsteps and prepared to pounce. The door opened and he heard the guy growl “Fuckin’ kids knockin’ me up at this time – kill you”!
Angel watched and tensed further when he saw the foot step over the threshold; that was enough - he hunkered down and grasped that ankle, pulling hard and smiled in grim satisfaction at the surprised yell and the crash as the guys ass hit the opposite corridor wall, entirely out of the safety of his ‘home’.
Angel stepped in front of the open doorway, blocking that escape route and stepped over to the sprawled human, picking him up by the throat to drive him up the plastered wall and vamping out. “Hello Danny”.
The human squirmed and choked as Angel closed his fingers, squeezing the flesh and cutting off air, veins popped out and meaty fingers scrabbled at his, trying to pull them away; he squeezed harder as he leaned in, “invite me in” he said.
Angel loosened his hold to let the guy speak, “Let me go asswi…” strangled gargling finished of that sentence and made the driver think again as he felt his eyes start to bug out. “argghh…invite you… in”, the words were almost indistinct with the pressure on his larynx but it was enough.
Inside the apartment the driver collapsed on to the nearest chair, both hands clutching his neck, watering red eyes watched the vampire warily as he stalked around checking out the rooms and riffling through some papers lying around.
Angel was finished in seconds, and reasoned that the driver would have recovered enough to talk now, “Tell me were Wesley is”? He demanded quietly standing in front of the seated man with his hands on his hips, jaw thrust forward and fierce demonic visage still firmly in place.
“I don’t know”, wheezed Danny, coughing a little and then struggling up with the intent to fetch a glass of water; Angel pushed him back down. “No one said you could move”. This made it twice in an hour that he’d been forced to terrorise a human, he mentally shrugged off the discomfort that was the guilt - guilt at how much a part of him was enjoying this, This one at least had brought it on himself
He paced very slowly in front of the chair, his yellow eyes never leaving the scared man in the chair, fangs glinting with every pace as the lights reflected off them. Finally he stilled, having got his more vicious side under control; he kept his vamp face on though, as it tended to make people take him more seriously and, ironically; saved a lot of bloodshed.
“I don’t believe you – don’t lie to me or I will make sure you regret it- for a short a while at least”. That demonic face towering over him coupled with the deep growling voice made Danny choke again as his throat seized up with fright.
ANGEL (4.35 am)
A little later Angel stood inside an empty disused garage, he could smell oil and fumes from engines both old and new, there were also spots of blood on the floor again old and new, he travelled the length and breadth of the building searching for anything to link this place to Wesleys disappearance.
He bent down when he caught a scent that was familiar, it was in the middle of some wheel tracks on the dirty floor and as he got closer Wesley’s scent became stronger, he had lain here for some reason. He laid a hand on the spot as if he thought he could tell more by doing so and then sighed and stood up.
Feeling like an idiot; but fresh out of other ideas, he stood in the centre of the building where he could be seen from every angle and raised his voice, “I know about you and your little scheme, it ends tonight; there will be no more shipments, ever”, he waited feeling even more foolish when only the rustle of rats answered him.
“Come out and face me, or are you cowards as well as assholes”? Again nothing, his shoulders slumped and he was ready to admit defeat and go rouse the others out of bed for some research when a light appeared, just a crack in front of him but then it widened into a bigger rip and a demon stepped through it.
Big bastard aren’t you, Angel thought with an internal whistle, “So you don’t like being called a coward huh”? He smiled grimly amused at its clothes and mask, watching with cautious dark eyes, black as pitch under his slashing brows, as it walked closer fearless and arrogant.
“So what’s with the mask - seen too many teen horror movies or are you just so butt ugly under there you can’t even stand the sight yourself”? He didn’t move but let it walk right up to him, toe to toe. His smile became a grin, it was unarmed and he had a sword, he left it pointing at the ground, gripped with the fingers of his right hand wrapped around the chained hilt.
“Not too talkative are you? That could be problem”, he said into its face, the smile back again; now joined with a sarcastically raised brow. The demon didn’t answer but gestured to the fissure behind it and Angel guessed he was being ‘invited’ to follow it.
Dammit Wesley, what have you gotten us into now?
He followed the demon and stepped through; and ended up in some kind of antechamber. It felt like he was stepping back in time, but that wasn’t the really weird part, what was weird was the fact that whatever time it was, it was way before his.
Flaming torches flickered in metal brackets on the walls, the floor was some kind of stone and the walls the same; bleeding together to create a dark, grey and altogether medieval picture. Then there were the clothes, studded brown leather and ‘leg wrappings’ for god’s sake!
It would be funny if they weren’t so big, thick meaty arms, grotesquely hunched shoulders wider than his, chests as deep as they were wide -and they were tall too; at least a foot over him and he wasn’t exactly small fry. Apart from the bald head though, all you could see of their faces were black eyes, no white just plain black - like a snake; and just as emotionless.
Several pairs of them were looking at him now - he had a welcoming committee, how nice. Steel glinted from raised swords and axes held aloft in such a way as to make it clear they were adept at using them. He left his own weapon down across his hips and pointing to the floor.
When he didn’t surrender it they moved closer, their weapons raised higher, almost touching his face now. He relaxed and tossed the sword upwards, catching it again by the hilt and holding it out to one of them; the one he’d followed.
It grasped the proffered sword near the hilt and tugged; Angel held on and stepped closer until his nose was almost touching the mask, “I’m going to be getting this back soon”, he told it in a tauntingly confident voice, one eyebrow cocked intending to provoke a reaction. It did, the demon reached up with a bunched fist and a snarl to rip his head off or something.
“Not gonna happen big guy”. Angel told it grinning in satisfaction, then grabbing the wrist and wrenching with all of his might. He twisted it sharply to the side to create tension in the elbow and shoulder and then brought down his free hand, now that he’d released the sword; down in a powerful snapping blow to the arm, just above the elbow; bone cracked and the thing bellowed in pain, it’s arm handing uselessly once Angel released it.
“Bravo” said a deep voice filled with admiration and a tinge of amusement. Angel looked towards the voice standing just beyond his ring of opponents, “But a bit reckless don’t you think, Vampire”?
“Oh, I don’t know; sometimes you have to get your kicks when the opportunity comes up”, he replied lowering his chin and tilting his head a little, dark eyes glinting in the flickering light, full mouth curved. The picture of relaxed arrogance matched only by the creature at the door who knew that whatever Angel was capable of; the vampire was on his territory now.
“Oh I couldn’t agree more, but still you’re a complication and a temptation all rolled into one”.
Angel’s brows both rose at that cryptic remark, “I’m a complicated person, but as for tempting….” his mouth twisted and he shook his head in mockingly, “I’m at the top of the food chain not exactly morsel material”.
The demon walked closer and Angel could see him better. He was as big as the others, in fact similar enough to be same the same species, the eyes all the same but this one wore no mask; the nose was flat and the lips almost nonexistent and above those obsidian eyes were ridged brows with tiny spikes along the length. The skin was almost human coloured and the head and jaw was covered with sharp tines where hair would have been on a human.
“Oh I didn’t mean for food – no; a warrior like you deserves more respect than that. We serve the weak ones for food and use others like yourself for much better sport”.
Angels brows snapped down in a frown, that sounded ominously familiar to Angel but he refrained from saying anything about that, waiting to hear more “Go on”?
The demon smiled genially and held out a thick arm towards the doorway, “Why waste words, come and I’ll show you”, it was quite a courtly gesture -and coming from this one, creepy, even to the vampire! His guards stepped back and allowed him to pass freely; so this demon he was following was obviously some kind of authority figure.
He walked into a nightmare, even having spent time in a hell dimension, the sight that met his eyes shocked him and his entire body clenched, as he forcibly had to restrain himself from erupting into useless fury. The smooth stone of the antechamber gave way to rock-face walls and dirt packed and rocky floors as if they were in an underground series of tunnels and chambers.
The entire complex looked huge with a central chamber directly ahead, encircled by a tunnel with additional chambers leading off. It was the central chamber that brought bile to his mouth. Huge stone slabs were set up, hundred of them all blood spattered with entrails and body parts scattered over and around them.
Dismembered bodies were still lying on some and being worked on by other masked demons with meat cleavers; most of the bodies were human while some of them had once been smaller demons. Hooks were dug into the ceilings near the walls and strips of red meat were hung to drip, the stench was incredible and the he had to choke back the sharp need that suddenly tore at his guts. Oh God, please don’t let one of them be Wesley
He didn’t realise until he heard the savage growling and felt the vibration in his chest that he’d vamped out; his ‘host’ noticed though, and looked at him curiously. “Feeling hungry Vampire, we have plenty here”.
“I’m going to kill you”, He felt no better for having said it, but fuck it; it needed saying.
The demon just smiled in approval at him, “I like you Vampire, I knew I would when I heard about you”
“Get fucking real, I just threatened your life”, he snarled angry at not being taken seriously.
“That happens all the time around here, do you think we would want tame demons? Of course not! –that would never do”
“All right; cut to the chase. What do you want the demons for?”
It was pretty obvious what they wanted the humans for, and he intended to address that before he left here. But he was calmer now; the smell of the blood was still driving his intestines into spasms of need but that was something he’d become accustomed to over the last century, although recently; with much less difficulty.
“Look behind you, Angel, what do you see”?
Still vamped out, feral topaz eyes surveyed the chamber directly behind them, next to the one he’d come out of just a few minutes earlier. There were literally hundreds of shelves dug into the rock; each bore hundreds of carvings of combat and figures stretched in furious battle. Weapons littered them too, some broken some not, paintings crudely drawn showed battle scenes too.
“We are a warrior race. In fact, we used to spend all of our very long lives either preparing for or doing battle; so much so that our attention on other things has dwindled to nothing. To satisfy our populace, we must have constant contests of strength and fighting skills, or erupt into an endless stream of wars that would eventually wipe us out”
“That’s bad why”? Sarcasm fairly dripped from the last word.
“We are strong, and our obsession has meant that our skills in fighting are very nearly unrivalled -but even so; our ability to reproduce is limited, and we do die”, the demon shrugged.
“So you kidnap other demons and force them to fight for their lives -to keep your people from killing themselves, and each other. Sorry; still failing to see the incentive here”, topaz eyes glared from under ridged brows.
The demon turned to face the vampire, black eyes met his and Angel felt his anger escalate at the humour in them and the merciless sense of enjoyment at his predicament. He would kill this one even if it meant he died.
“You and they have no choice in the arena; it is kill or be killed -either way blood and dust will be spilled; the crowd will be happy”
“I’ve been here before, demon, why should we fight one another when we can fight you”?
“You won’t be fighting one another; you fight us, we are not the type to just sit and watch – so don’t think refusal will do you any good. Like I said; fight and die”.
Angel grabbed it by one upper arm, fingers clenched in a tight hold strong enough to crush; the demon didn’t flinch but just eyeballed him. “Where is Wesley Wyndham Pryce”?
“Ahh, your human pet! He’s still alive, if that’s what you want to know?” The demon moved to resume walking. “He was unusual enough not to be put in there”, he indicated the butchering area. Angel sighed with relief and let go; he still had a chance -although what he could do to get them out of here, was a question he could see no answer too at this point.
THE HYPERION HOTEL
CORDY (6 am)
Her hands sought him out but found only the sheet, she frowned and still half asleep turned around to face the other side of the bed, hazel eyes blinked open and shut and then stayed open when she realised he wasn’t there at all.
Confused she turned on her back and looked towards the balcony, it must be dawn as the sun was lighting the sky outside, evident even through the drapes. She sat up then, so where the hell is he. She had to force her brain into action, did he say he was coming over after he’d finished or not? She was certain he would.
She looked down and realised she was naked; that settled it! She had been expecting him and it wasn’t a figment of her imagination; or sleep reduced brain power. She normally preferred to wear PJ’s to bed, but Angel hated it when she did and always took them off her; so when she was expecting him she didn’t bother putting any on.
Not caring about the time, she reached over to the bedside table and picked up her cell phone, dialling him and putting the phone to her ear. Boy are you in trouble buster! You’d better have a good excuse!. There was no answer; she disconnected and dropped it on the bed, and flopped back with a disgusted sigh.
“God I hate this! Great; now I’m gonna worry all day until the dork decides to call and let me know he hasn’t turned into a crispy critter!”
She jerked her head round and stared at the digital display on her clock; snarling even more when she realised it was only 6 am. “That’s it, that is totally it – I am so buying him a leash; an electric one -and when he doesn’t turn up when he’s s’posed too I’m gonna send off an electric charge to fry his sorry ass!”
Too wound up to go back to sleep; and still grumbling about that, she pulled her legs of the bed and put her feet into the fluffy slippers carefully placed in exactly the right position. She shivered in the early morning chill, and rushed to pull on a thick pink terry robe. Dressed now, she yawned and turned back to the bed to make it. She stopped dead when she saw the indentation on the other pillow next to hers.
A chill crept over her when she realised that he had been here, but if so, where had he gone? She spun and headed for the door and the corridor, “Angel” she called out as soon as she cleared the doorway, there was no answer.
She rushed down the stairs telling herself she was panicking for nothing, he’d probably got called away; but why didn’t it wake me too- and why isn’t he answering his cell now ?
A quick survey of the lobby revealed no big dark dork of a vampire, “Where the hell are you, dammit”?
She went into the office and stopped dead again, papers were on the floor, items from the drawer scattered across the desk, a half written note on her desk. She snatched it up and nearly growled in frustration, whoever had written it, it wasn’t Angel and they got no further than addressing it to ‘whoever it may concern’, Shit .
Cordy had an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach; and heeding it, dashed back upstairs to get dressed and grab her phone, she needed the numbers of it to call Wes and find out what the hell was going on. Ten minutes later she was back down and pacing in frustration. Her jeans were thrown on as well as the spaghetti strapped blouse; but her impeccable sense of style saved her from fashion disasters, even when she was thinking about other things.
“Wesley, you are just as bad as Angel!” her voice was high, and she forced herself to calm down, “This is ridiculous – this had better be an emergency or you guys are dead for worrying me like this”.
She rang Gunn’s number and got a busy signal, “SHIT” that one screamed word echoed around the lobby and almost made her miss the sound of the door from the yard opening. She whirled around, a smile of relief on her face which faded into numb shock when she recognised her visitor.
“What the devil are you doing here”? She asked partly in bewilderment and partly in annoyance that he wasn’t Angel.
“Hmmph you can tell Wesley’s been influencing you Cordelia, not to mention Angel too. Hello to you too” Said Rupert Giles from the doorway, he stood looking down at her with a quizzical look on his weather-beaten face, an old fashioned carpet bag in one hand and a newspaper in the other.
“Sorry, Hi” replied Cordy shortly, “I’m having a crisis”.
“Isn’t that just my bloody luck” sighed Giles and dropped the bag, “Another busman’s holiday – wonderful”
Part 3
THE HYPERION HOTEL (Where we left off)
“So what is it this time and where is everyone”? Asked Giles walking down the stairs, the bag left at the top where he’d dropped it, but carrying the paper like it was the bible or something. “I expected a Detective Agency to be busier”.
”Er Hello, sole trader here” , Cordy looked at Giles guileless face and decided not to get into it - Behind the times much?
“That’s the crisis” Cordelia told him in a clipped tone, still bemused at the arrival of the ex Sunnydale Librarian and ex Watcher - and if she was willing to admit one of her earliest crushes – must be a watcher or English thing, she thought remembering how hot Wesley had looked to her at one time, a long time ago she assured herself hurriedly.
Shaking her head slightly to dislodge the unwelcome nostalgia trip, she decided to take the bull by the horns and asked him; “What are you doing here anyway Giles - not that you’re not welcome or anything”, she added the last bit hastily when he looked at her with an ‘annoyed and trying to hide it’ expression.
“Thank you” Said Giles with careful emphasis before taking his glasses off for a quick polish. Typical Cordelia, never one for wasting time on the pleasantries.
Cordy gave a small smile, despite her worry - amused at the all too familiar gesture and then with a brow raised to speed things along; waited for a reply knowing silence is more effective on people like Giles than badgering. She was right too - unfortunately.
“I was coming in this direction anyway and well, I’m here to see Angel on Buffy’s behalf – she’s worried about him and I’m worried about her” said Giles and then placed his glasses carefully back on his nose, he looked up at Cordelia, obviously uncomfortable discussing it with her.
”Well Duh he’s here for Buffy - his ex and talking to me his ‘now and staying that way’ lover”, she did her damndest to ignore the surge of jealousy and instead of giving it to him with both barrels – like she wanted; she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt - maybe he just didn’t know.
“Aren’t we all” Said Cordy and for once the super sensitive Rupert Giles failed to notice the freeze in her voice and suddenly stiff body - or if he did, saw nothing wrong with it; after all it had been a while since he’d last seen her.
“So what was that you were saying about them being – missing was it”? Giles asked, looking around him, scrutinising the lobby and what he could see of the office.
“Just Angel – and maybe Wesley, but I’m not sure about Wes” replied Cordy crisply as she walked back over the phone on the counter and dialling Wes’s home number again.
“So what do you think has happened to him – have you checked his room”? Asked Giles, trying to think methodically and not sure how successful he’d be considering he was talking to Cordelia Chase.
Wow you really are behind the times, Buffy not too talkative then. “That would be my room now” replied Cordelia with a hint of steel still in her tone as she put down the ringing phone – no answer. Then relenting, she explained “Angel gave up the hotel when he took over Wolfram & Hart; this is my place now”.
Giles gaped at her for a second before recovering with a murmured “Oh”, then it hit him and he frowned, “So how do you know he’s missing – maybe he’s just not answering the phone or he could simply be asleep”.
Giles relaxed somewhat, ruefully thinking he’d forgotten how melodramatic Cordelia could be, especially when it concerned her – but then why would it concern her? It was morning after all.
He frowned and considered how to ask delicately why she would know so much about Angel’s movements. From memory and conversations with Willow – admittedly a long time ago – the vampire could barely stay in the same room with her for an hour without going crazy.
“Not really since he was supposed to be sleeping with me” Cordy told him with some careful emphasis of her own. Giles was so caught up in his own thoughts he missed the ramifications of what she said – for the moment.
WESLEY
The other two demons were awake now and he’d had a few bad moments earlier when they’d realised they were; one - being held prisoner and two – sharing a cell with a human. For some reason that seemed offensive to them and he’d been forced to defend himself, luckily for him he’d managed to put them off the idea of trying any further attacks any time soon.
However, it did mean sleeping was dangerous and so totally out of the question. Also not helping was the fact that his head was hurting like hell, but at least the need to throw up had receded, leaving him feeling hungry, ”bloody typical”. Not that he expected to be fed or even if they did offer it - would consider eating anything they gave him.
After what felt like a lifetime of tedious waiting the crash of the bolts was heard again and all four inmates stiffened and waited to see what would happen next. As before the guard was carrying a flaming torch; expecting it this time, Wesley protected his vulnerable eyes to avoid the blindness of the sudden change in light from pitch black to illumination.
After a few moments to adjust, he was able to see that the guard wasn’t alone this time, there was another with him. Similar in appearance and yet not – it was difficult to tell as this one wore no mask. He was looking directly at Wesley though, “human, you will come with us now” it wasn’t a question but a demand.
“Where am I going” He asked the demon as he got to his feet with some difficulty, stiff from sitting still and silent on the damp dirty stone floor of the cell over a prolonged period of time, trying to stay alert for possible attacks.
“To visit a friend” the demon replied and gestured for Wesley to precede him. Not exactly unhappy to leave the dark dankness behind; Wesley did as he was told without further comment. As he crossed the cell door threshold he looked around him carefully but was disappointed to see nothing but more of the same on outside, nothing but rock walls, darkness and smoke.
There were numerous other doors identical to the one he’d just left which he assumed where more of the cave-like cells, Dreary didn’t begin to describe it, if he was here for too much longer he could see himself falling into depression he thought with wry amusement.
“I have quite a few questions, if you don’t mind answering them”? Wesley asked the mask-less demon as he was led away down the corridor at a brisk pace, going to heavens knows where; he was not expecting much but hoping for something to go on that might give him a means of escape.
“Your friend has the answers you seek Human, ask him” Wesley quirked a brow at the curt tone but said nothing else, what would be the use – apparently he was going to find out soon enough. Gradually the scenery changed – became worse if that was possible.
From the small ‘tour’ he’d had so far the complex was large and whoever had built it had used the natural caverns, caves and tunnels only with a lot more care being taken with the cell block with it’s regimented doorways and solid wooden doors. Here the doorways were mere holes with ragged leather curtains covering them. The floors were rock strewn with dirt and grit to make them less slippery was his guess, ”obviously not big on hygiene these lot”.
They arrived at what appeared to be the destination; like the others there was no door just a thick curtain which when pulled back by the husky guard, revealed the pacing and obviously agitated occupant; Angel.
“Wesley, if we get out of this alive I swear I’m gonna kill you”. As a convivial greeting between friends and comrades-in-arms go, this one sucked.
“It’s nice to see you too” replied Wesley as he ducked inside and faced the vampire. You couldn’t work with Cordelia Chase for any length of time and not learn the value of a sarcastic come back.
Angel looked back to the demon that’d met him in the antechamber and now escorted Wesley to him; “You can go now Piglet, we have things to discuss here”.
“As you wish and for the record Vampire, my name is Drachnar”, the demon replied with an attempt at dignity and clearly not understanding the insult on its looks. Wesley grinned and hid it by looking over the room and using that as an excuse to turn away.
“I’ll remember that for the next time I wanna clear my throat” replied Angel with a raised brow and crossing his arms in a “What – what did I say” type of gesture, as the demon – realising it was being taunted hissed in annoyance, then its black snake like eyes narrowed with sudden malice.
“Don’t take to long with your talk Vampire, you have been treated with respect due to your reputation, but things change rapidly around here and humans are always the first to suffer”, Drachnar came over to stand beside Wesley, dwarfing the human. “Remember that before you let your tongue run away with you again”.
With that Vampire and ex-watcher were left alone, Wesley looked at Angel; his blue gaze direct as he said “I realise this is my fault, but can we save that for later and just get to the escape part for now”.
Angel sat on the edge of a table and crossed his ankles, nonchalance in every line – except for the face, which suggested otherwise. “Easier said than done Wes, you’re on the menu and I’m on the entertainment list – not to mention the pesky fact of some kind of inter dimensional portal like nothing I’ve ever seen before”.
Wesley ignored the food part and concentrated on where he could do the most good, “Describe the portal to me”.
HYPERION HOTEL
“Angel sleeps with you” Repeated Giles his face frozen with shock before a smile cracked his face and he laughed, or more accurately chuckled manically at the ‘misunderstanding’.
“You mean he occasionally sleeps here – for a minute there I thought you were saying…”
“I was and we do – can we move on now, like I said I have an emergency going on here”.
Giles choked and stuttered for a full minute before managing to stop and then meeting the glare he got from Cordelia – even without his glasses he would have winced; his shoulders slumped and in another revealing gesture removed the glasses yet again - only this time to rub his eyes in what was obviously an attempt to relieve sudden tension.
”So that’s why Buffy won’t discuss Angel or LA” , thought Giles, pity stirring in his heart, ”When am I ever going to learn not to interfere – I shouldn’t have come here, especially secretly” .
He sighed deeply and sat down on one of the chairs gingerly, saying “Yes indeed lets move on, why don’t you tell me why you think Angel is in danger”. He couldn’t just walk away now though, honour not to mention good manners forbade it.
Grateful at the offer given the blow she’d just given him, she outlined what she’d found when she’d woken this morning, but Giles didn’t seem convinced there was a problem. “It’s all very nebulous isn’t it - it could mean next to nothing, maybe he just got caught up in something or simply called away”.
“I don’t think so and that’s good enough for me” replied Cordy pacing to the middle of the lobby and turning to thrust an arm towards the glass doors and the sunlight that shone behind them, “Not to mention the whole ‘morning bright’ aspect of it”.
“For enough” replied Giles in a mixture of long suffering patience and resignation. “So what’s the next step, what would his movements have been, where might he have gone or seen”?
“Hey, Watcher guy, one question at a time here. Anyway I think the first stop has got to be the ‘belly of the beast’”.
“I beg your pardon; did you just say…” Giles looking at her in complete confusion, “What beast are you referring too”?
“I mean Wolfram & Hart, you know Evil-Law-Firm” she replied impatiently
“Why didn’t you just say so, it would make this so much easier if you could speak plain English, Cordelia”.
The reprimand in his voice made her eyes roll for moment before she caught it. ”Was Wesley ever this stuffy before they knocked it out of him”? She didn’t think so. “Did Buffy not tell you anything about what went on here”? She was genuinely curious.
But Giles angry at the implied criticism in her tone and rolling eyes, snapped at her “That’s none of your concern, Buffy is hurting Cordelia and unlike some she doesn’t yell to the world when she gets a paper cut”.
Cordelia said nothing and carefully kept her face expressionless – hiding the hurt of unexpectedly finding herself confronted with her past and how others had viewed her - before she’d come to LA and met up with Angel, to start the first Agency.
Giles shrugged and looked away, sighing deeply, “I apologise, Cordelia that was uncalled for – I really am just worried about Buffy”. He could hardly meet her eyes; there was something in those hazel depths – some kind of darkness or painful memory.
Whatever it was it made her look older than her years, as if she had seen too much and it shamed him, because he knew that look from Buffy’s eyes too; he realised then, too late to take it back, that he hardly knew this Cordelia Chase.
Cordelia walked away from him, going around the counter to reach her desk – she still used her old one mostly, feeling weird sitting in Angel’s old office. Looking over the counter that now separated then, she measured her words carefully, something that Giles would never have believed her capable of before.
“Look, Giles I’m not trying to be rude here and its not that I don’t sympathise – well OK maybe I don’t cos – Hello, not exactly in the loop on Buffy these days. Whatever, I don’t have time to get into this – I need to find out what has happened to the people I love like family, clear”?
Giles was smiling at her now, impressed despite himself at the obvious passion she felt, “Oh absolutely clear, can I help”?
“Sure", Cordy waited a few beats watching his expression and checking his sincerity, which was clearly real; "Come on Giles, we need to go play dress-up”. Before he had a chance to ask for an explanation she’d grabbed him by the arm and dragged him upright, “Did you bring a suit or maybe a jacket to go with those pants”.
“Hmmm - erm well, let me see I think I brought a jacket just in case, but” he stopped and stared at her, “Please unhand me and tell me why I need a jacket in this heat”.
“Whatever happened to the stuffy Librarian that always wore a jacket no matter how hot it was”? Complained Cordelia as she half dragged him over towards the stairs and his carpet bag. “He got sick of sweating, now answer the question” replied Giles in that, oh so dry English way of his.
Cordelia bounded up the stairs to grab his bag, throwing the words over her shoulder, “We can’t just walk in the door and expect to find out what we want to know – even if Angel is ‘boss’ they’re still evil at the core”.
She handed a still confused Giles his bag, “It’s simple and I’ve done it loads of times before – we go disguised and find out what we want to know then we leave OK”.
Giles recovered from the idea of ‘going in disguise’ enough to point out, “But why do you need me, won’t they get more suspicious of a stranger” he asked Cordy’s rapidly disappearing back view.
“Duh – why do you think I need a disguise, they’d get rid of me in a second if they could, that’s why I need you. You’re part of my props”.
WOLFRAM & HART BUILDING
Lorne was walking towards the bank of elevators in the lobby when he found himself staring in utter shocked surprise at one of the people inside the now closing door. “Cordelia”, he saw the woman – wearing a navy short skirted business suit, big glasses and a huge blond hairdo; raise a slim hand to her lips in a shushing gesture.
He raised his brows and looked thoughtful, ”Who in hell was the man with her and why were they sneaking around?”. Deciding to investigate he watched to see which floor the elevator would stop at and saw it go past the last authorised floor, without stopping – they were headed for Angels apartment. That had him stumped since he didn’t have the code to access it, so that left Angels office as a good bet for the next stop.
“I still don’t understand why the disguises Cordelia – won’t they know you’re here anyway if they are so ‘all seeing’ as you say they are”? Asked Giles in an exasperated tone.
Cordy refrained from mentioning Lorne, trusting the green demon to keep quiet; “What - you think they might have a Cordy/Librarian alarm – I don’t think so and don’t say my name, they have ‘all hearing ears’ as well”, she hissed at him and then carried on in her best cajoling speech, “Have you never heard ‘he who dares wins’ -get a grip Giles”.
“Harrrmphh” snorted Giles more than a little peeved, “Why the blonde wig, it’s bloody distracting and a bit obvious isn’t it”?
“Do you think so” Asked Cordelia sweetly, “I thought you’d appreciate the familiarity of the dumb blonde look”. Giles gave her a filthy look but said nothing else, waiting for the elevator to deposit them at their destination.
ANGEL & WESLEY
“Where the hell are we, do you know”? Asked Angel; going to the curtain to check for eavesdroppers, before turning back and giving Wesley a questioning look.
“Other than a hell – or so I’m told, no idea I’m afraid” answered Wesley in a no nonsense tone, wincing internally though at having got them caught in yet another unknown demon dimension. I’m getting as bad as Cordelia
“Yeah well you got that right; you should see what I did when I got here. Humans cut up like cattle and hanging from the ceiling waiting to be eaten”.
“Hmm nasty – not exactly encouraging either” replied Wesley, not that he wasn’t disgusted but sometimes a hard edge was necessary to survive, this was one of those times. “What was it you were saying about ‘entertainment’ - you have you’re clown suit with you”?
Angel frowned darkly at the humour, but was oddly relaxed by it too, typical Wes. “Ha Ha, very funny – how about you wear one and kill ‘em with your rapier wit” he replied sardonically. He resumed his earlier position with a hip cocked on the ‘rooms’ only piece of furniture. “Remember a while ago, those two brothers running a demon fighting ring”?
“You’ve got to be kidding me” said Wesley, catching on immediately, “not again”.
“Tell me about it” sighed Angel and scrubbed his face with his hands, trying to clear the smoke and grit from his suddenly tired eyes.
“Times up my friends, it’s time to prepare yourselves” announced Drachnar from the doorway, pulling back the curtain and smiling grimly at them.
“Prepare ourselves for what”? Wesley asked, envisioning a big cooking pot. Angel didn’t look at him though, just stared at the demon in the doorway with a hardened expression all tiredness forgotten as renewed adrenaline poured through him, taut silence filled the room.
“That’s a good question so why don’t you answer the man, Drachnar”? His reaction to the question would depend on what the answer was.
“You both go into the pit to fight together” replied the demon genially but there was a glint in those obsidian eyes that showed another feeling altogether. “It should be amusing to watch you defend yourself and your friend at the same time – if you want too that is”
“Oh I don’t know; he’s pretty nifty at defending himself” replied Angel with a small smile, which was true but he had a horrible feeling that things would be different here. For one thing, there was the ‘trapped like rats in cage’ part of the deal to consider.
“Not here he won’t, no one survives the pit and certainly not a mere human” replied the demon with certainty. “We’ll see” snarled Angel, clenching his jaw and forcibly stopping the demon that wanted out; not YET! He hated to give this bastard something to gloat over and vamping out would give away a lot about his state of mind.
He glared at it with dark eyes narrowed to slits of unadulterated menace, “Will you be joining us”? To any one else it would sound like he was inviting the demon to tea party or something, the tone was so polite. Drachnar stared back at him, and smiled; a tiny acknowledgement of the battle Angel had fought within himself.
“Not this time I’m afraid but in the highly unlikely event of you surviving the first bout, maybe” replied Drachnar, confidence oozed out of the big demon and his eyes gleamed manically at the thought of the blood that would be shed.
“That’s a good enough reason to survive all by itself” replied Angel quietly and concisely; even if he never saw another day – this bastard was going to die.
Wesley simply stood back and watched the by-play between the demon and the vampire with interest, so they were to fight for their lives – what else was new. He refused to let himself dwell on the possibilities – what good would fretting do, at least he wasn’t pot roast.
THE PIT
The pit was a dirty stinking hole in the ground, lined with stones and at least twenty feet deep. Angel knew he could jump it easily but not while holding onto Wesley – at least he didn’t think so, but he’d keep it as a last option if nothing else.
Crowds of demons, most of them masked sat in stone tiered benches surrounding the ring and what a crowd they were, dirty, coarse and if he was any judge - high on the thrill of the coming violence. They where all inside yet another large cavernous cave, dark and damp and lit with the usual torches; including high up inside the pit itself.
Don’t want the audience to miss the fun now do we, like hell, but it didn’t look like he had a choice, again; at least this time he would be perfectly willing to kill his opponents.
On the right side was a platform of some kind, made from wood with three huge chairs built into it - for the local dignitaries thought Wesley, too exalted for the cold stone like the rest.
All of sudden there was a commotion and both tensed at the wild clapping and stamping of feet; “Looks like the funs about to start” Said Angel keeping his eyes trained on the rim of the pit, trying to gauge from where the threat would appear.
“Looks like” agreed Wesley also keeping a careful watch; they stood back to back waiting for whatever was going to happen next, tense and primed for the violence to commence. Both of them tall and dark-haired, covered in grime and dirt – the vampire was much bigger and heavier and yet – somehow, both seemed the same as they faced the danger together.
What looked like some kind of mini procession walked around the pit, seven unmasked demons, all the same with their flat noses, slittish lips and black eyes, ringed by ridged brows and spiky tines. Three of the group sat down in the wooden chairs and gestured to the other four - heavily armed demons.
“They’re armed and were not – hardly fair” intoned Wesley to Angel who looked around to him and nodded briefly in agreement. Just then all four demons jumped into the pit with them; landing on legs like the trunks of young trees. They steadied themselves almost the instant they landed and then tossed the weapons between themselves and Angel and Wesley.
Then bending at their thick waists and clenching meaty fists they roared at the pair. Simultaneously both Angel and Wesley raised a brow and then looked at one another, “I’ll let you growl back – you’re so much better at it than I” Wesley told the vampire ironically.
The crowd went wild again, obviously more impressed than they were and clapping and stamping their feet. Strange to hear when they had no voice for the most part and the remaining three up there without the masks, remained stoic throughout the display.
“Gee thanks, I’ll pass” replied Angel gathering himself to launch at the weapons, all six combatants exploded into action in the same instant almost as if a gun had gone off.
Angel reached a sword at the same time as one of the demons and quicker on his feet, booted it on the face and snatched up the long weapon he was the most comfortable with. Wesley knowing he would need something heavier went for an axe with a long wooden handle and wickedly curved polished blade.
Both successfully armed they faced of the demons again, back to back as before. Watching intently the circling demons, two armed as they were, the difference being instead of an axe, one held a three pronged spear. Wesley winced when he saw it, for some reason it gave him a chill and he wished to hell that had been the closer one to him, instead of the axe.
Angel and the other sword wielder clashed with flashing blades and rings of steel, while Wesley blocked the darting spear with the axe. Angel parried the sword of his opponent and after a few minutes was forced to the conclusion that Drachnar had not been bragging about their skills, he was keeping up – just.
Worried now, he risked a quick glance at Wesley to see how he was faring and saw he was struggling against the longer reach of the spear. ”Dammit, I need to finish this one now, or Wesley’s a pin cushion”.
His gaze snapped back to the demon he was fighting, seeing the other two circling them, waiting for an opportunity to strike but patient and not risking injury unless a guard was dropped. Sneaky, but in-experienced, if he was them he would attack as a team, lucky for him they weren’t trained in teamwork.
He picked up the pace - hacking and slashing at both head and torso and then using both hands to grip the hilt, he drew back one elbow and shoulder so that the sword was poised to strike and backed away, waiting for an opportunity of his own. The demon followed him, wary but excited at the prospect that Angel was finally retreating, perhaps even tiring. ”In your dreams”, that was it he was close enough – he lunged straight towards the demons unprotected neck; the demon saw it and brought up his own sword but was too close to parry, so it blocked with the blade flat out and angled down.
”Just what he wanted”, Quicker than the eye could see Angel changed the angle and depth of the sword with a flick of his left wrist and by releasing the grip of his right hand; stepping back so that he stood sideways to it and confusing the demon with the move. The sword slipped past the protectively held blade and sank into its chest, just below where the breast bone would be on a human.
Angel immediately pulled the bloodied sword free and even as it sank to the floor, raised it again in his right hand now and swiftly decapitated it. The head came clean off, ”good sword” and rolled to rest by the stone wall of the pit.
Wesley meanwhile was tiring fast, like Angel he too had noticed the scavengers waiting for him to fall and was bloody well determined not too, if he could help it. The axe felt like a lead weight by now, but so far he’d managed to avoid the prongs. He dodged the next lunge and was struck by a surge of rage, renewed energy ran through his veins and his blood pumped hard through his body.
He kicked the spear to the side and trapped it with the axe by the curved head of the prongs, lashing out with his other foot, he connected with a thud on that meaty face, it staggered only a little before righting itself, ”Fat prick”.
Before it could yank the spear free, Wesley slammed the axe in an upward swing, meeting the demons neck and cutting through skin and bone. That’s more like it. But despite the win he knew he was not likely to survive this and watched almost with detachment as the spear was taken up by one of the other, fresher demons.
The burst of adrenaline was fading and feeling a little like a drunk he swung his heavy, aching head around to see Angel in the middle of a fight with the last of the other two, [/I]Two kills to the vampire, no doubt[/I], he smiled grimly and heaved himself straight, meeting the charge of his latest and likely last challenger.
As far as Angel could tell, these guys must be trained by the same swordsmen – were none of them frickin’ easy to kill. He’d miscalculated in leaving the axe for Wes, not thinking about the weight of it during a long fight, he chanced another glance and winced, nearly getting his arm sliced through in the process.
Giving his attention back to the fight, he vamped out and snarled, baring his fangs and then charged the momentarily disconcerted demon. He hacked at the blade that was still raised in a huge fist, knocking it aside with his own but not stopping or reducing speed, until he head butted it on the face; he felt the sting of the tines on his ridged forehead but used the pain to fuel his demonic hunger for more.
The force of the unexpected blow drove it back despite it’s size and bulk, the sword fell back and to one side and Angel kicked it out of it’s hand and then raised his own; the blade stabbing down into it’s gut. Then he dropped to a crouch and twisted his wrist up, turning and driving the impaling blade upwards while still inside, slicing through intestine like butter.
Without waiting to watch the final death throes he whirled around to see to Wesley, his topaz eyes widened when he saw the man he thought of as a friend was on his knees, the axe barely still held up and both arms dripping with blood, even his face was spattered with it and more oozed out of a gash on his neck. The demon stood back with and with a horrible grimacing grin swung the spear from side to side, gathering speed to swipe it over the now defenceless human. The sharp prongs would rip through everything in its path if it caught him, killing him.
Without really thinking Angel launched himself; hoping against hope to get between the man and demon in time. Wesley saw out of the corner of his eye, the dark shadow that was Angel, streaking towards them and in a split second of clarity he knew what would happen, “Nooo, don’t be a fool” He tried to yell it to be heard over the noise of the wild and crazed crowd.
His voice was hoarse and that only made what happened next even more surreal, he watched in horror as, almost in slow motion, Angel came between him and the spear, his black clad body met the ripping prongs and he jerked in mid-air as if stung. He landed with a thud on the dirt floor, lying on his side with one hand thrown towards Wesley.
Wesley watched the hand willing it to move, looking for signs of life and then saw a dark patch of liquid, spread to touch the still fingers from underneath Angel’s side. The demon threw back its head and roared, raising its arms in victory to incite the crowd into a bigger frenzy.
Wesley glared at it with bloodshot eyes, face pale and streaked with his own blood; he struggled up and grasping the hilt from underneath Angel’s prone body, dragged and hefted it up. The demon sensed the movement and turned to face him; Wesley stabbed the sword up through its chin and smiled in intense savage satisfaction as he saw the blood pour from both mouth and nose.
The crowd went quiet and Wesley staggered and fell back to his knees, then to the floor on his side - the two figures making a figure ‘T’ on the dirty, blood drenched floor of the pit.
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